The Last Battle
by mandaree1
Summary: The warriors aren't immortal, not even close. Not that their time has come, they reflect.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Code Lyoko**

**Summary: The warriors aren't immortal, not even close. Not that their time has come, they reflect.**

**Title: The Final Battle**

**Warnings: Death and mentions of blood. If these things trigger you, please don't read further!**

**...**

He had no regrets.

He didn't know what would happen after he passed, or how painful passing would be, but he wasn't afraid. He didn't believe in any afterlife, but he didn't _not_ believe either. He'd always been carefully neutral on the subject, having no want, wish, or desire to strike any debates that may turn nasty on the topic. He hoped all he'd done to protect people would get him in if it _did_ exist, but, if not, than he at least hoped he'd be in the middle. If he was reincarnated, then he hoped he'd become an animal of any sort. Life would be so much easier as an animal; live or die, eat or starve. Black and white. His kind of world.

They wouldn't survive through the battle, he knew, taking a quick look at the enemies slithering just outside attack range. No, they wouldn't make it home. But neither would they. With that in mind, he drew his sword.

It was time, and he was ready.

He charged.

* * *

Bleeding heavily, she slumped onto her side in the long grass. Around her, the forest glittered with moonlit dew; greens and browns waving poetically in the wind and adding a sentimental factor to the events conspiring before and to her. It was the perfect place to die...

She knew she should be scared. Her family, her little brother, what would they think, finding her in the middle of the woods, surrounded by the corpses of her friends? What would happen to them? She tried to visualize it, to spark the fear she knew she should feel inside, but came up empty handed. All she felt was warmth and the strange feeling that everything would be okay. Her family could- would- survive without her. After all, the threat was gone, and it would never be coming back. And neither would she. And that was okay, they would never be threatened by an unknown force ever again.

Ulrich gave her a small smile._ It's alright_, the twitch of muscle said,_ it's time_. She returned it. _I know_. She grabbed his hand in a friendly grip, as through making a secret handshake, aware of the fact that, while it would take awhile for things between them to evolve fully, they had forever to figure it out now. She peacefully closed her eyes.

_I'm ready._

* * *

He was scared.

Not of dying (why would he be afraid of something he couldn't change?) but of going. What would happen next? Would he end up a corpse in the ground, lifeless, with no future; no forever?

In far too much pain to shudder without jarring his wounds, he gasped for breath. How ironic, he thought bitterly, to be taken down by an arrow. Grabbing the wood, he attempted to sit up higher against the tree.

Would he be with the others? Would he be alone? Would his family miss him? Forget about him? He coughed, blood trailing down his chin.

Feeling around blindly, he firmly grabbed the shaft of the arrow lodged in his shoulder. Gritting his teeth, he used the last ounce of his rapidly depleting strength to slowly extract it from the wound. Now blood burst free. He grunted, but didn't flinch.

He hated iron, and he wasn't about to let it control him, _especially_ now. Pushing it into the nearby ground, he managed to sink the head into the soft earth before finally stilling.

Scared? Yes. Ready? Well... it was a little late to stop things now.

* * *

Logically speaking, this was for the best. Lyoko would never be found now. X.A.N.A was dead, and so were the Lyoko warriors.

He gritted his teeth, pressing a hand against the wound. His other hand floated calmly in the cool stream. Perhaps, if it rained enough and the body of water widened far enough, the stream may carry his body away before they were found. He hoped not, his will was in his pocket, and he wanted it to be as crisp and readable as possible when found.

He was a little afraid. Not very much- he knew the process of death and the theories of the afterlife very well- but enough. His father would move on eventually, and he didn't have anyone else who would mourn him. This way, Lyoko would forever remain a secret. No one else would ever be drawn into the world they fought in. It would never have existed. The adventures, the danger, none of it. In the end, it was the proper thing to do. Protecting the word was their duty, but, now all they had to protect it from was the truth.

He closed his eyes, bit his lip, and waited to meet his companions on the other side.

* * *

Frankly, she was a tad... excited to finally rest her head.

What did she have to lose? All or her family, biological or no, was gone. Athena, Franz Hopper, Ulrich, Yumi, Odd, Jeremie- all of them, gone. Finished, dead, on the other side.

Maybe death would be like Lyoko. No smells, no air, just imaginative sectors filled with peace and quiet. Unlike Lyoko, there wouldn't be any monsters or X.A.N.A. They'd go somewhere else. She'd be with her friends- no, her _family_- strong and fast and able to keep running forever, with a never ending amount of places and things to explore. It wasn't the best, but it sounded... sorta nice.

A small, weary chuckle escaped her throat. Who knew? Maybe, eventually, they'd all give in to their emotions and pair up. They had an eternity to do so, now, after all. She closed her eyes, her worries leaving her body as she exhaled. Her body fell stiff.

And so, the Lyoko warriors died doing the one thing they did best; protecting.

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